Inspired by 'catch me if you can', man poses as pilot

25 September, 2012

Leonardo was clever, charming and dapper in the film that told us the story of a conman who flew millions of miles for free. In a 'catch me if you can' style, the same trick was tried again by a man in real life this time.

THE FLIGHT of 32-year-old Andrea Sirlo, who went on his own adventure trip reminds us of the very famous Leonardo Di Caprio movie 'Catch Me If You Can'. Apparently Sirlo took inspiration from the movie, changed his original name and tried to fly for free as the Lufthansa Captain.

He did try to complete his act with an accompanying Facebook account but he was not as meticulous as Frank Abagnale ( the real life con man who flew more than 1,600,000 kilometers (1 million miles) as a fake Pan American pilot in the 1960s). Sirlo's rank caused suspicion in a Civil Aviation lieutenant as he felt that Sirlo was too young to be a Captain.

Thus the police tracked him down through his Facebook photos where he had posed in uniform and sunglasses in front of airplanes. On Friday however, he was caught in the check-in area of Turin Airport. No one is quite saying it that how many times Sirlo, whose real name has not been revealed, has flown for free but the police said with certainty that he traveled at least once.

As was reported by ndtv.com, Lufthansa declined to comment on the matter. Even Sirlo did not have the instinct of a true criminal as he did not want to take admiration for his cleverness and did not respond when requested for a comment.